What delighted mischievous Ange Postecoglou and the Tottenham transfer target he denied

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For a man dealing yet again with the absence of a large group of players, Ange Postecoglou was laid back and slightly mischievous in his press conference ahead of Tottenham's match at Galatasaray.

Delays at Istanbul's main airport meant that the squad's bus arrived at RAMS Park, the big stadium built 13 years ago in the Turkish city, just under an hour after they were meant to on Wednesday evening.

While the Tottenham players and staff were whisked away to the changing rooms to begin getting ready for their training session out on the pitch, Dominic Solanke was first led down a different corridor towards the press conference room.

It was the England international's first club press conference since his £65million move from Bournemouth. A handful of British reporters had made the trip to Istanbul, with the rest of the room packed with Turkish media.

The assembled journalists were informed that due to the late arrival of the squad and the need for Solanke to get out to train, there would only be a five minute window for questions.

football.london kicked things off, simply asking the 27-year-old how his body was holding up after a run of games in a short space of time during which he had left everything out on the pitch for his new club. The question was as much about trying to see if Solanke gave any hints towards whether he was starting or not in the Europa League match.

For being put up for the press conference before a European game does not necessarily mean the player is set to start, or even play. Micky van de Ven was selected to answer questions at the press conference ahead of the home match against AZ Alkmaar a fortnight ago and didn't even come off the bench in the game.

Once, under Jose Mourinho, Toby Alderweireld was chosen to speak to the media ahead of Tottenham's game in Belgium against his hometown club (and current employers) Royal Antwerp. Surely the centre-back would play in such a poignant match? Nope, he sat on the bench unused.

READ MORE: Every word Ange Postecoglou said on Romero and Werner injuries and Mikey Moore illness

READ MORE: What Son did after Tottenham's Villa win as former player admits Ange Postecoglou 'blew my mind'

With that in mind, Solanke's answer did begin quite generally, rather than focusing on himself and spoke about needing everyone in the squad. Take from that what you will.

"I feel great. We've got a lot of games this season which we want. Obviously there's a lot of competitions we want to do well in and go for, so we’re going to need everyone," he said.

"But yeah, me personally, I'm quite a fit person. I like to work hard. So I think with the staff that we've got, everyone's looking out for us and making sure we get right for each game. So we're thankful for that."

Solanke is a really polite, pleasant person and popular within the squad already, but he's not one for giving too much away to the media, perhaps simply a by-product of being new to the club.

With time in short supply, Spurs will have known that the striker would have dealt with questions as he would chances in the box, quickly and efficiently with little fuss.

He spoke about the intense atmosphere the team are expecting from the passionate Galatasaray fans inside the stadium on Thursday night. Those British journalists who have covered games in Turkey always claim that there are no games louder and the near-54,000 capacity RAMS Park is meant to be up there in terms of the decibel levels.

The Spurs players have been warned that they may not even be able to hear each other when standing near one another on the pitch during the game. Various players have mentioned that is sometimes the case at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium near the big South Stand so hopefully it won't come as too much of a shock.

Solanke explained that it will be a good experience for the young players and Postecoglou, when he swept into the room after the striker was done, believes that the youthful members of the travelling squad should relish such an occasion rather than fear it.

"No. I’m sure that they’re all looking forward to it. That’s why you play football. I kept saying, especially with this generation, a lot of them have experienced what football is like without supporters. You certainly don’t like that when we went through Covid," he said.

"We’re looking forward to it. It’s a fantastic stadium, the supporters create an unbelievable atmosphere here, they love the big European nights.

"They’re a very, very good team. It’s exactly the kind of games you want to be involved in in Europe, whether you’re young, you’re old, irrespective of the role you have, you look forward to it."

Spurs certainly have some young players on this trip in the shape of academy products Will Lankshear, defenders Dante Cassanova and Alfie Dorrington, 17-year-old midfielder Callum Olusesi and Luca Williams-Barnett, who will make you feel really old when you find out his age.

For the teenager was born in late 2008 and only turned 16 last month. That he has been brought on this trip shows not only how well he's been playing within the academy but also how keen Tottenham are to show the gifted attacker what the future will hold for him if he commits to it with them.

All eyes have been on Mikey Moore this season and understandably so with the winger, who only turned 17 in August, already playing in the Premier League and Europa League after starring in pre-season and in training last season under Postecoglou.

Moore picked up a virus this week which meant he had to remain at home while the club got to the bottom of it.

Many within Spurs' academy believe Williams-Barnett has the ability to follow in Moore's footsteps into the first team if he continues work hard and steers clear of injury.

Williams-Barnett played last season as a left winger and this season has been one of the two number 10s in the U18s side, similar in a sense to James Maddison when he drifts either out wide or into the middle. The teenager has stepped up to U18s football effortlessly despite starting this season as a 15-year-old. He has plundered eight goals and three assists in just seven U18 Premier League matches, while played for England U17s as well.

He scored a hat-trick again Manchester United U18s in the league cup last month and then scored from the halfway line against West Ham.

Whether he makes his debut or not, the experience will be a big one for the youngster who is missing a couple of days of school for this. If he does step on that pitch to play at any point, he will become Spurs' youngest ever player by around four months, taking Alfie Devine's record.

Postecoglou also spoke about the injury news regarding the senior players with Cristian Romero's foot problem not too serious, but Richarlison's hamstring issue more so. Timo Werner also joins the injury list with a groin complaint he has been carrying recently.

It might be better for Werner not to experience the noise in Istanbul on Thursday night. The Champions League-winning German famously asked to come off as a 21-year-old during a defeat in that competition for RB Leipzig at Besiktas, the Bundesliga side's first away Champions League match.

The noise and atmosphere was so electric in Turkey that night that Werner had to ask for earplugs on the half hour mark after covering his ears several times, and later he asked to be substituted.

"I had never seen such an atmosphere in my life, I couldn't concentrate on the game. I asked for some earplugs, but that didn't help either," explained Werner after the game.

Various medical tests were carried out on him for weeks afterwards, with some suggestions that it may have stemmed from a neck or back problem caused by excessive travel prior to the game.

The problems he was having caused him to miss two of Germany's qualifying games before the World Cup in Russia in 2018 and it was only after some time off that he was able to return to playing.

Postecoglou was asked a different kind of question about sport being a release and escape from the politics of the world and the current return to power of Donald Trump in the USA. The Spurs boss hinted at an even more newsworthy answer than the one the media ended up getting.

"I could give you a cracking non-football answer but I'm not going to," he said with a grin. "It's where we are as a society at the moment. Sports always provides a constant in terms of escapism for people whether in the broader context of global political landscapes or people’s lives in general.

"We've all got things in our lives that sometimes aren't in the greatest shape so I think sport, and football in particular because it's the global sport, does. It provides some escapism, hopefully some joy, and some collective tribalism in a positive way. You feel part of something, connected to something on a weekly basis which is your team and you share that with other people.

"I've always felt sport and football, for me, has always been a great avenue for people to enjoy something in a community aspect and hopefully that continues."

Postecoglou was pressed again if he would in fact give that non-football answer to which he politely declined.

Then came a final question from the local media about 24-year-old Galatasaray winger Barış Alper Yılmaz, who Spurs had been linked with this year during Postecoglou's tenure and whether there was any truth in the interest.

"No, no, no, not from us," replied Postecoglou after the translator quietly put the question to him.

As he got up to leave, the Australian looked towards the British journalists and our confused faces with a mischievous grin, well aware and tickled that the Turkish questions were only being translated for him rather than the whole room.

"I think these guys are going to want to know what the question was!" he turned back towards the translator and said with a chortle, knowing the media's love of a good transfer story - true or not in some cases.

Later listening back to the translator's whispered question into Postecoglou's ear, which can be picked up clearly on the official UEFA microphone, it remains to be seen whether the Spurs boss was actually able to hear which player was referred to anyway. If he couldn't hear, he may well have guessed from the flurry of Yilmaz links back earlier in the year.

Either way he was in a surprisingly good mood for someone who will go into this latest game without six first team players and needing to play some others he would have liked to rest. He admitted on Wednesday that he will still make changes.

That good mood is what nine wins from 11 games does for you along with the knowledge that this manic schedule will briefly pause soon for the coming international break so Postecoglou and everyone can take a breath.

First though comes the noisy atmosphere at RAMS Park. Spurs have given themselves a good cushion in the competition but they will not take this match lightly, regardless of whoever goes out to play in a Tottenham shirt.

Manchester United were greeted 31 years ago by a banner declaring 'Welcome to hell' when they travelled to play Galatasaray at their old ground. Spurs will be hoping to find a little slice of heaven amongst the din on Thursday night.

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